1. Introduction to Programming
Python Lab 9:
Functions
Margarita Razgon

2. Getting Started (1)
Create a new folder in your disk space* with the name Lab9
Launch the Python Integrated Development Environment (IDLE) - begin with the Start icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
If you are in a DCSIS laboratory, search using the keyword Python and click on IDLE (Python bit)
Start -> All Programs -> Python 3.5 -> IDLE
A window with the title Python Shell should appear. This window is the Shell.
In the Shell click on File. A drop down menu will appear.
Click on New File. A window with the title Untitled should appear. This window is the Editor.

3. Getting Started (2)
In the Editor, click on File, and then in the drop down menu click on Save As… .
A window showing a list of folders should appear.
To search any folder on the list, double click on the folder.
Find the folder Lab9 and double click on it.
In the box File name at the bottom of the window
Type CompoundInterest.py
Then click on the button Save in the lower right corner of the window.
The title of the Editor should change to show the location of the file CompoundInterest.py.

4. Objectives of the exercises set
Create your own user-defined functions in your program.
When defining a function, you provide a name for the function and a variable for each argument.
For example, the definition of the function cubeVolume is shown below.
def cubeVolume(sideLength):
volume = sideLength ** 3
return volume
result = cubeVolume(2)
Name of function
Name of parameter variable
Function header
Put a colon here.
Function body, executed when the function is called. The statements in the body should be indented to the same level.
return statement exits the function and returns the result (the value of volume in this example).
Call the function with an argument of 2 to calculate the volume; and then store the returned value in the variable named result.

5. Objectives of the exercises set (2)
Use a for statement to implement count-controlled loops that iterate over a range of integer values.
For example,
for i in range( 1, 5, 2 ):
print(i)
The values of i that are displayed: 1 3
Use the string format operator % and sensible format specifiers to specify how values should be formatted in the output. For example,
print("Quantity: %d Cost: %6.2f" % (quantity, cost))
The ending value is never included in the sequence.
The start value
The third argument is the step value.
Format specifiers

6. Program CompoundInterest.py: function balance
Problem statement
Write a function with the name balance and with the following three arguments: initialBalance, rate and numberYears. The function balance returns the balance in an account given the initial balance, the number of years that have elapsed and the interest rate.
It is assumed that the interest is compounded. Recall that the balance in the account is given by the formula
initialBalance*((1+rate/100)**numberYears)

7. Program CompoundInterest.py: function balance (2)
Note *: The function balance must first be defined before it can be called later in the program.
Inputs to the function balance
Call the function balance with the following arguments:
balance(100, 6, 2)
Computation in the function balance
b =
initialBalance*((1+rate/ 100)**numberYears)
return b
where
initialBalance is 100,
rate is 6
numberYears is 2
Result returned by the function
Final balance:
The result is formatted to 2 decimal places using the print below:
print("Final balance: %.2f" % balance(100, 6, 2))*

8. Program CompoundInterest.py: function balance (3)
Problem solving - Convert the pseudocode below into a sequence of Python statements in your program.
Define a function named balance as shown below:
def balance(initalBalance, rate, numberYears):
Create an assignment statement to calculate the final balance using the formula below, and then store the result in a variable named finalBalance. The statement is indented in the function body.
initialBalance*((1+rate/100)**numberYears)
Add a return statement to return the result of the function, namely finalBalance, in the function body.
Provide a comment to explain the purpose of the function balance. Also include in your comment the types of the parameter values, the type of the returned value, your name and the date. Save the function balance in the file CompoundInterest.py, and then call the function to test it.

9. Program CompoundInterest.py: function table
Problem statement
Write a function table that requests an initial balance and a number of years and then prints out the two requested inputs together with some text to specify the meaning of the printout. For example, the initial balance could be printed out in the form
The initial balance is 100 ukp
The function table then prints out the final balance for the values -6%, -3%, 0%, 3%, 6% of the rate, given the requested initial balance and the requested number of years. Each value of the rate corresponds to a single line in the print out.
For example, if the rate is -6% and the calculated balance is ukp, then the corresponding line of the printout is
  rate: -6%, balance: ukp

10. Program CompoundInterest.py: function table (2)
Problem solving - Convert the pseudocode below into a sequence of Python statements in your program.
Define a function named table that has no parameter variable, so the name should be appended with a pair of parentheses ().
Read in an initial balance that should be converted to a floating- point value, and store this value in a variable named initialBalance.*
Read in a number of years and store this value in a variable named numberYears.
Display the initial balance and the number of years together with some text to specify the meaning of the printout.
An example is shown below for the variable initialBalance.
print("The initial balance is %.2f ukp" % initialBalance)
Hint *: To read in a floating-point value, use the function input followed by the function float. The function float converts the input string into a floating-point value.

11. Program CompoundInterest.py: function table (3)
Problem solving (continued)
Write a for statement to iterate over a range of values: -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, for the rate. Below is an outline of the algorithm needed to solve the given problem in the for loop body.
for rate in range(..Hint: use -6 as the start value and 3 as the step value. Work out the ending value yourself..):
# Call the function balance below to calculate the
# balance for each rate value and store the result in b.
b = ..complete the code to call the function balance
together with the arguments: initialBalance, rate
and numberYears..
# Add a print statement below to display a formatted
# output of the rate and balance for each rate value.
print("..complete this string by using suitable format specifiers and string format operator % to display the rate and balance..")

12. Program CompoundInterest.py: function table (4)
Note:
The code for steps 2 to 5 should be indented to the same level in the function body. Also the statements in the for loop body should be indented.
The string format operator % is covered in “Week 5: Strings and Output”.
Provide a comment to explain the purpose of the function table. Include in your comment your name and the date.
Test the function table using suitable values for the initial balance and the number of years. In order to test the function, you need to add a statement that calls the function i.e.,
table()
after the function definition. The statement is outside the function definition.
Save the function table in the file CompoundInterest.py and then run your program.